With the start of spring quarter at DePaul, graduating students look forward to their upcoming commencements. Many Latine college students across the United States have shared their academic accomplishments on TikTok, with thousands of posts under hashtags like #latinoexcellence, #firstgen and #gradschool.
Many of these videos depict specific accomplishments by the student, like landing their dream job or internship, winning first place at a conference or being accepted into an Ivy League school. Usually, music by Bad Bunny or other inspiring artists plays in the background of the video.
In a TikTok of a student winning best delegate at Harvard National Model UN and Resolution Project, a user commented “No por las puras el IQ en Perú está aumentando, las nuevas generaciones lo lograran,” which translates to “It’s not for nothing that the IQ in Peru is increasing; the new generations will achieve it.”
When sharing these accomplishments with their parents, first-generation students are usually met with a common question: “¿Que es eso?” which means, “What is this?” in English. The parents are almost always proud of their child’s success in the videos, but they don’t seem to fully understand why their child achieving certain accomplishments is so important.
Last May, Melissa Urzua, a graduate student assistant at DePaul’s Office of Multicultural Student Success, told her parents that DePaul’s First-Gen organization, for which she served as co-vice president and treasurer, had won the award for Best New Student Organization at DePaul.
“They don’t really understand it. I give them the basic information I can give them because I know at the end of the day, they’re not going to fully understand everything,” Urzua said. “But I think when they see me happy, when they see me proud of my own things, that’s when they know as well, too.”
For many first-generation students, pursuing higher education comes with extra hurdles. Parents who did not complete a college degree may be unfamiliar with application processes and available opportunities.
Kary Ramirez, a programming assistant at DePaul’s Latinx Cultural Center, said her difficulties with applying to DePaul included choosing a major and learning how to network.
“I remember the application process for attending college was very difficult because I didn’t know what FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) was. I didn’t know that there were opportunities outside of my neighboring area that I could apply to. It was very much me having to do it on my own or ask recent graduate students,” Ramirez said.
DePaul’s Office of Multicultural Student Success offers the support first-generation students might need for their college success. The office helps students figure out how to navigate FAFSA, manage their schedules and utilize resource programs available to them.
Ramirez said it was difficult trying to explain the idea of balancing work and school to her family. She would be told “just work hard” when expressing the difficulty of managing the two. She feels that, while working hard is a good habit to build, it’s not a permanent solution to the problem.
Like a scale tipping to one side from the heavier weight, Ramirez said that the “work hard” mantra made her prioritize work more than her studies. In other cases, this mentality leads to higher anxiety from pressure to perform in school or burnout from overworking in her classes.
The National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that first-generation students have difficulties sustaining themselves in school, as 15% of them are less likely to continue their level of academic excellence due to factors like socioeconomic status or school quality compared to other students.
The feeling of imposter syndrome is a common psychological experience among many students, but it is especially prevalent among first-generation students, according to a California State University, Monterey Bay study.
“Once you’re in an environment you’re not familiar with and people have way different experiences than you, it makes you doubt yourself, and it makes you ask, ‘Am I capable of achieving the same things that the other person was achieving?’” said Urzua. “Because the way that we got there is different, but the outcome is the same.”
Miguel Martinez, a DePaul junior studying political science, thinks the TikTok trend has brought a surge of pride to the Latine community, serving as inspiration for current and upcoming first-generation students in college spaces.
“I think with everything that’s happening right now with the presidential administration, most people are finding ways to be defiant,” Martinez said. “… Given everything with ICE and what’s going on nowadays, Latine first-generations are, I could say, the loudest group with being proud of their accomplishments.”
These TikToks are also shedding more light on the work first-generation students put into navigating higher education, Ramirez said.
“Don’t be afraid to speak up, to ask questions. And don’t be afraid to take up space. I think that was something that I struggled a lot with when I was younger,” Ramirez said. “Know you’re just as qualified, as important as everyone else in the room. Don’t be afraid to step out of that comfort zone. I know it’s really hard to, but know at the end of the day, it’s going to be worth it.”
